The invention relates to a method and apparatus for separating components from a flowing medium by means of centrifugal forces which are effective on the flowing medium.
The separation of material components from a flowing medium by means of centrifugal forces is well known and many solutions to this type of separation are available in the art. Especially German Patent Publication (DOS) No. 2,160,415, discloses a method for separating and precipitating or removing of material components suspended in a medium, said separating or removing being accomplished by means of centrifugal force. In the known method the medium to be cleaned or worked is guided into a bent main flow. A stationary eddy is produced on the concave side at a flow off edge of the main flow. The stationary eddy flows along the entire width of the flowing medium, whereby a portion of the circumferentially outer area of the eddy flow contacts the main flow or overlaps the main flow. In this manner it is possible to generate an orderly flow field subject to a high centrifugal force effect which, in addition, is self-stabilizing and clean in an aerodynamic sense. The proportion to be separated or removed from the flowing medium is collected in the center of the eddy chamber and removed from the eddy zone through axially extending exit conduits.
The separated particles leave the eddy zone under the influence of the centrifugal force and return into the main stream which carries the particles past the eddy chamber. The separation or removal even of the finest particles is very efficient in the just described prior art method. However, there is room for improvement with regard to the ratio between the separated clean volume flow and the initial total or raw volume flow. In the prior art this ratio is relatively low.